New fleet of Volvo trucks for Lomas Distribution

Derbyshire-based powder and aggregates haulier orders 70 new Volvo tractor units and tippers

IN a move aimed at consolidating the company’s policy of operating trucks no more than three years old, Derbyshire-based hauliers Lomas Distribution have ordered 70 new high-specification Volvo tractor units and tippers from the Hartshorne Group.

This major order – which sees all of the tractor units specified with the Globetrotter XL cab, I-Shift gearbox and Long Haul fuel-economy software – includes 38 FH-540 tractors equipped with the latest line-fitted lightweight pusher-axle, together with an additional six FH-540 standard pusher-axle units and six FH-540 tag-axle tractors.

The flagship of the order is a 120-tonne gcw FH16-750 6x4 heavy-haulage tractor unit for Lomas Distribution’s new heavy-haulage low-loader operations. The FH16-750 is fitted with the latest I-Shift with crawler gears, for heavy-load, high-torque manoeuvres.

Additionally, the order includes a number of FM-460 8x4 tippers. These sleeper-cabbed eight-wheelers are also equipped with I-Shift transmissions and will all be fitted with the latest Step C Euro-6 engine.

The arrival of the new trucks will see the Euro-6-compliant content of the 250 strong Lomas Distribution fleet reach 50%, confirming the company’s commitment to reducing emissions and improving the environment.

‘Reducing the average age of the fleet to three years has been helped along by selling and disposing of some of our older equipment through auction,’ commented managing director Richard Lomas. ‘Achieving this age profile is one of the ways to ensure we continue to deliver the most reliable and efficient service to our customers.’

The majority of the new Volvos are direct replacements, along with some additions. Deliveries will commence in the summer and are scheduled throughout the rest of 2016.

The company is also extending its age-restriction policy to its fleet of trailers; unlike the trucks, the trailers’ ‘in-service life’ will be reduced to five years. To facilitate this policy the company has invested in several new Fruehauf and Feldbinder trailers. A further addition to the fleet is the purchase of a new Faymonville four-axle low-loader, plated for use up to 120 tonnes under the STGO category.

Serving the chemical and construction industries nationwide, Lomas Distribution specialize in the transport of bulk powder and aggregates, but are growing their presence and expertise in a number of other areas, notably recycling and industrial cleaning.

As part of their growing recycling fleet, the company operates 13 walking-floor semi-trailers, carrying waste for use in the creation of energy, and five semi-trailers fitted with high-power DISAB Centurion Vac loader tanks including one powered by a Volvo-Penta unit.

The new trucks, which are covered by Volvo’s Uptime Assurance, will be maintained under a three-year Volvo Gold R&M contract by Hartshorne Group technicians working on site at Lomas Distribution’s purpose-built, state-of-the-art workshop in Buxton, Derbyshire.